Rainbow District School Board

Summary

A cyber incident caused a system-wide network disruption affecting the Centre for Education and all schools across Sudbury, Espanola, and Manitoulin Island. In response, all computer systems and applications were proactively shut down, eliminating access to email, voicemail, Google Drive, social media, and other operational tools. Despite the outage, schools remained open with classes continuing under adjusted lesson plans, and attendance was tracked manually while parents could call schools to report absences. Information Services staff worked alongside third-party cyber security experts to assess the impact, origin, and cause of the breach, and no indication of compromised personal information was reported at the time. Internet service was gradually restored, first to staff for core functions and online attendance, and later to students via WiFi on both board-owned and approved personal devices.

Motives

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TTPs

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Description

On Friday, February 7, 2025, at 10:00 a.m., Rainbow District School Board began experiencing technical difficulties with its computer network. In an abundance of caution, the Board announced that all computer systems and applications would be turned off at approximately 10 a.m. The disruption meant there would be no access to email, voicemail, Google Drive, social media, or any other applications that the schools used on a day-to-day basis. The notice affected the Centre for Education as well as all schools in Sudbury, Espanola, and Manitoulin Island. Despite the disruption, all schools remained open and all classes and programs continued, with teachers adjusting their lesson plans accordingly. The Board advised parents and guardians that if they needed to reach their child, they could visit the school or contact their child on their cell phone, with students that students being allowed to check their phones periodically. The Board's website, rainbowschools.ca, was not affected by the disruption and was designated as the central location for ongoing updates.

Later that same day, at 2:30 p.m., Rainbow District School Board confirmed that the system-wide network disruption was due to a cyber incident. According to the update, when technical issues emerged earlier that day, measures were quickly implemented to protect the Board's computer network. Information Services staff began working with cybersecurity experts to conduct a full assessment in order to determine the impact of the cyber incident, as well as its origin and cause. At that time, there was no indication that any personal information had been compromised, though the Board stated it would inform the community if that situation changed.

On Sunday, February 9, 2025, at noon, the Board reported that it continued to experience a disruption in its computer network due to the cyber incident. Schools remained open and all classes and programs continued, with attendance being taken. Parents were still able to call schools to report absences, and schools were able to call home for the Safe Arrival program. Internet access remained unavailable throughout the system. Information Services staff continued to work with third-party experts to assess the impact of the incident, and the Board advised that updates regarding the resumption of Google applications, including email, would be provided as soon as they became available.

By Tuesday, February 11, 2025, at noon, Rainbow District School Board stated that it continued to work diligently with third-party experts to assess the impact of the cyber incident. The Board expressed gratitude to administrators, teaching staff, and support staff for maintaining high levels of engagement and interaction in classrooms as the organization prioritized teaching and learning. Students and parents/guardians were also thanked for their patience as services were gradually brought back online. At that stage, there was still no Internet service at any school, and parents and guardians were asked to continue calling schools to report absences rather than using email.

On Thursday, February 13, 2025, at noon, significant progress was reported. Rainbow District School Board announced that staff were now able to access the Internet at all schools and at the Centre for Education. Core functions had been restored at a staff level, and online attendance taking had resumed. Parents and guardians were advised that they could call in absences or report absences by email, and that attendance completed manually over the previous days would be entered into the Board's online student information system. Staff were also able to access some of the applications used for teaching and learning at school, with additional applications to be phased in as more functionality was restored to the network. Wi-Fi access for students remained disabled at that time.

By Friday, February 14, 2025, at 3:30 p.m., the Board confirmed that Internet service had been restored for students. Students were able to connect to Wi-Fi on both board-owned devices and classroom-approved personal devices. Rainbow District School Board continued to work closely with cybersecurity experts to assess the impact of the cyber incident, acknowledging that this work takes time and thanking staff, students, and parents/guardians for their ongoing patience.

Sources

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